


April Drabble: Relearning

by methylviolet10b



Series: April 2020 Drabbles [9]
Category: Sherlock Holmes & Related Fandoms, Sherlock Holmes - Arthur Conan Doyle
Genre: 221B Ficlet, Canon Compliant, Canonical Character Death, Insomnia, Multi, Sleep, Stress
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-30
Updated: 2020-04-30
Packaged: 2021-03-01 18:21:17
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 221
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23921512
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/methylviolet10b/pseuds/methylviolet10b
Summary: Sleep and I have been uneasy companions throughout my life.
Series: April 2020 Drabbles [9]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1714501
Comments: 8
Kudos: 25





	April Drabble: Relearning

**Author's Note:**

> Author's Note: I've been writing drabbles again recently. They're loosely centered around a basic theme, which might or might not become evident over time. Today's branches out a bit into a 221b.

Sleep and I have been uneasy companions throughout my life. According to my mother, I was a colicky baby who screamed nightly instead of sleeping. I remember no trouble sleeping as a child, but as a lad in boarding school, I learned to sleep lightly.

Medical students and doctors know how precious sleep is because they get little of it. Soldiers are the same.

Sleep became almost impossible after Maiwand. As Holmes’ biographer and companion, sleep was just as hard to come by as my medical school days.

It took married life to re-establish a healthier relationship with sleep. Lying in bed with Mary beside me, nestled into my embrace, I found sleep easier and more peaceful than I had in years. I still had late-night calls and interruptions, and the nightmares never completely left, but I always found my way back to sleep.

Insomnia returned after Holmes’ death at Reichenbach. My nights grew so restless that I offered to sleep in the spare room, or on the sofa in my office, to give Mary a chance to rest. But she would have none of it. She said she would far rather lie awake and hold me than lie alone wondering how I did.

Now Mary, too, is dead, and I do not sleep. I dread retiring to our empty bed.

**Author's Note:**

> Originally posted April 29, 2020.


End file.
